Welcome to Gaia! ::

Caspien didn't understand why they had been so mean to him. Alright, it wasn't this fault someone had left the pantry unlocked. Nor was it his fault that he had discovered the cream. The fact that it tasted so good and had made him hyper? BIOLOGY duh. They taught that on TV. Anyone who watched TV knew certain foods made you react in a certain way. And how was he to know that the damn lights would get tangled around his legs? He had just been showing his APPRECIATION to the cream, and had done a little dance number. The fact that his tail had been caught around one of the stands and that it had come crashing and... and...

Aw boy. It WAS his fault. Mara was going to KILL HIM. Which was why when they had told him it was time out, and that Mara would be along to speak to him soon, he had decided that the best thing to do was hide. He just hadn't known that the bookshelf, once climbed up, would be so difficult to get down from.

It wasn't his fault at all. It was the fault of the damn bookshelves.

Still...

The boy had been recuperating from an extreme sugar high when he had heard the voices. The strange man's voice in Marc's office, the little clapping noises. Something being tugged off. It was enough for him that he had crawled to the edge of the bookcase to peer down, and to see a young man holding a little thing close to the windows. It was dark. It cooed. It had feathers! The wings were MASSIVE on the creature.

Caspien was a diva. He was a Song. But ultimately...

Caspien was a cat.

And everybody wants to be a cat.

His tail twitched, raising as it swayed in the air above him. It was a large bird, perhaps smaller than he was but definitely larger than anything he had seen outside. It was also prettier than a bird as well, with humanoid features just like himself. He couldn't help the almost inaudible purr that escaped from him as he eyed the birdy, entranced.

His tail swished the air and his butt wriggled as he took a couple of steps back, and raced forward.

"TWEETY!" he cried out, and leaped.

The bright light was enough to have Caspien feel a little bit faced. As he landed on his feet lightly in front of the man and the fluffy black bird, he blinked for a moment, pausing and shaking his head as if to clear his eyes. Instinctively, he raised his hands to them to rub, pausing almost like a cat to pat down his hair as well. Wasn't he lucky that it hadn't been electric? Because then he really would look like Simba. Still... with an admiring glance, his eyes rested on the little bird. Green eyes, bright green eyes that seemed to gleam like his own blue ones. It was very typical of Caspien not to notice that she seemed to be reacting negatively to him. All that mattered was that she was smiling in such a way to let him see her fangs.

His blue eyes gleamed and his tail swayed as he took in the little black bird in front of him. His gaze rested on the all too human man holding onto the child, and dismissed the youth entirely. He wasn't as big as Marc, so not a threat. He looked more like a kid himself, and thus didn't count on Caspien's 'list of people to listen to'. Instead, he stood there, ears twitching. He raised one hand to his hair again to gently brush at it like an absent minded cat.

"It's Cas." he answered instinctively, ignoring the fact that Mara seemed to be giving off evil vibes from behind him. "Only grownups all me Caspien." he thought he was so cool now did he? Well, that was Cas for you. Pausing, he frowned as he stared at the little bird. "Can you fly?" he asked, eyes all intent. "Can you fly tweety?"

Although... tweety was a yellow cartoon character, wasn't it? This one wasn't yellow. It was all pale and dark and purple like some ice cream sorbet left out in the sun. He wondered what those feathers felt like, and if she could that bright light thing again. He smiled slowly. It was purely mischievous and feline.

"You're like me." he stated. He could feel it. It wasn't simply because the bird had wings and a face. It was something else. That bright flash had been interesting as well. He wondered why he couldn't do it himself. "You're like me and..." the smile widened.

"I like you." he drew out the word.

Well, obviously this bird was crazy about him because look at how she was fidgeting and moving! It was as if she was so excited to be in his presence that she couldn't help herself. Plus, the older one seemed to be laughing and enjoying himself. This was certainly an odd pair, different from the people he had met so far. Those eyes were pretty, not as pretty as his own of course, but pretty enough to merit another glance. And another. At the older one's words though, he couldn't help but get a bit distracted. First of all, kid? He was bigger now! He wasn't some little baby like the bird who couldn't talk and walk. He might have been like that before, and he might still have ways to go before he was as big as Marc, but Caspien didn't consider himself a kid any more.

Now look at the way the little bird was flirting with him, hiding her face like that. Peekaboo. He could still see her though. So he was one of the people on stage was he? Caspien's expression took one of more respect at the words: it was quite interesting wasn't it? This one couldn't be much more older than him, and he was in a band! He was a performer! HE WAS FAMOUS!

"Do you sing? Or play?" he asked, his eyes lighting up. He nodded his head, but didn't like the way the bird seemed to want to come near him. He almost, almost didn't get it. Right. Maybe she was so worked up by being in his presence that she didn't know what to do? It must be something like that, because any alternative... well. He couldn't really imagine any other alternative.

"Can I?" he wondered. She wasn't that small, and what if he dropped her? Then Mara would absolutely KILL him. Probably ground him, and not let him go to the classes he'd signed himself up for in the next coming months. Wouldn't that suck? He hesitated, reaching out, and then frowned. "But what if I drop her? And she can't fly yet right? She's still a baby bird."

He looked around and spotted the desk, and jumped onto it on lithe feet. Sitting down with his legs crossed on the table surface, he grinned. "Now I won't drop her." he stated proudly, holding his arms open.

Cat ate the canary and.... something like that.

HE SANG? THATS WHAT CASPIEN WANTED TO DO! His eyes widened until they were almost starry as he sat there, staring at the young one in front of him. He wasn't that bad, was he? In fact, if he was only this big and this old and already performing... that was FANTASTIC! That was exactly what he himself wanted to do, and to find that there was somebody else who was living his dream... well. He had underestimated this one.

Singer. Wow.

"I will singer." he said, nodding his head with a touch of solemnity in his eyes. He would. Because he couldn't dare disappoint this man now, not until he had been given advice on how his own singing was, and how he could improve his own career. This was going to go great.

"I am SO SORRY about this." Mara started saying as they left the room. "But you can trust him, despite the way he acts. I'll check up on them too often while you're on stage, or have someone else do it." the rest of her words died away as she lead Lore through the hallways and towards the stage.

Silence.

Caspien liked the silence. It let him think and dream about his big future. Still, he had something soft and warm and furry in his lap, and it was really like the time Mara had taken him to a petshop and he had held a baby chick in his hands. Just like that, except this one was bigger. And doing something strange. The little bird was so silent, that Caspien wondered if it was sick.

Poke.

"Are you okay?"

Poke.

"I don't want to get in trouble."

Another poke. Just at the edge of the wings.

"Soft." he commented. "Birdy? Birdy?"

There should have been some warning. Really, a big sign that indicated what was supposed to happen, because he didn't understand it otherwise. It was a little bit of heat at first, pressure, and then...

"OW!!!!!"

It was a half yell, how yowl as he waved at finger around. It hurt! Not as much as it had when the damn lamp post had landed on his tail, but pretty much! Wondering what type of bird would dare bite him with teeth, (instead of wondering why a bird would have teeth instead of a beak) he hissed. "You're not supposed to bite without permission!"

Thats what Mara had taught him growing up, when he had like to gnaw on her fingers. It had been almost like a feline teething thing, or a show of affection or...

OOOOOOH. Now he got it.

Was this her way of showing affection? Maybe too much affection? He remembered almost when he was her size, he hadn't been able to speak properly and had resorted to cries and purrs whenever Mara did anything. Or whenever he had to do anything.

"Ow." he said again, but there was amusement in his voice that touched the pain now. "Man, if you like me you just have to say it." he purred.

Caspien felt the arms wrap around his neck and his grin turned into a smirk. Bingo. He knew he had been right. He knew that the biting had been a sign of affection. His purring increased as he felt the warmth and weight of the bird. See, birds always liked cats. Or at least they pretended they didn't to get the cats to chase after them. See. This was the way it was supposed to be.

His purring increased. Her feathers were massive, and to him, it really symbolized that she was a bird of sorts. It was an odd feeling, being wrapped around a bird, a massive bird but a baby bird nonetheless. With a feline smirk, he nuzzled.

Birdy loved him.

"Birdy." he crooned, and wondered when the music was going to start. From his viewpoint, he realized that he didn't have the best view of the stage, nor of the singer. He wanted to know how good he was, and how much he could learn off this human. Maybe he was really good, and would have a lot to teach. Or maybe he was only okay, and Caspien could feel better about himself. Feel as if maybe he was one step closer to his own dream, if a human could perform on stage.

He had once asked Mara if he too could perform on the stage, to be met by laughter. He still didn't really understand what the laughing had been about though.

Someone had to teach this girl a lesson. That biting was really not okay, and while he understood the sentiment... well. He had a feeling that now he understood what Mara was talking about. It HURT. It didn't feel good at all, and now what was she doing? Was she trying to cut off his air circulation? Wondering what this girl was thinking and how she had been raised that this was considered a show of affection, he let out a little hiss. No. This wouldn't do at all.

Something changed though. Even in the office he could see the lights dim, and the quiet. It was always like that here, the first few moments before a band began performing. It was glorious, heady: he wondered what it would be like to be the one on stage, to be the one causing this inexplainable sensation. It was like a drug, and he stilled. He noticed that she seemed to be excited as well: well then... at least this was something he had the birdy had in common.

They both seemed to be slaves to music.

Her wings began to flutter and she began pumping the arms. It was enough that he was free to shift. Shift he did, moving them both around so that he too could get a better look at the stage. The lights, the crowd in their full ecstatic glory. It was fantastic. It was what he always dreamed about, except like always, he was the one watching, not the one being watched.

That, in itself, was frustrating.

"Singer is very good."

His eyes shone as he watched the performance. "One of these days, I'm going to be the one on stage. I'm going to be the one performing. People are going to stop laughing at me and they'll have to admit it. That I can sing. They'll want me the same way they want the Singer now. Completely. One of these days that is going to be me."

It was supposed to be an inner monologue. He didn't quite realize that the moment had him excited enough to say it out loud.

The music was good. He watched, liking the fact that the bird had settled in his lap and wasn't making so much of a fuss now. Honestly, kids! He liked it even better that he could watch the performance in peace with the bird that seemed to like him so much. It was an odd sensation, the weight in his lap, and as it shifted and tried to settle itself for the long performance ahead, Caspien had to wonder if maybe he should give up his dreams of becoming a performer and become a seat for birds instead. A bird house. If all birds were as fun as this one, that could be pretty cool.

Settling back down, his tail moved happily to the music. He let out a happy little purr as well. So the singer could do more than one kind, could? He was getting a bit fidgety now. He wanted to see what else the man could do, and if maybe he could play something Caspien could dance to. Dance his tail off until his fur stood at its ends and his vision went cloudy. Didn't that sound like so much fun?

He wanted to get closer to the music as well. He wanted to feel it echo in his chest and lungs and feel the madness of the crowd. It was nice to be able to watch from such comfortable surroundings, but it wasn't the same. His tail tapped unhappily. But... Mara would probably get angry if he moved, right?

Well. Maybe if bird was the one who suggested it....

"Do you want to go closer to see?" he asked.